Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton (21 December 1505-30 July 1550) was Secretary of State of England from 1540 to 1544 and Lord Chancellor from 1544 to 1547.

Biography
Thomas Wriothesley was born in London, England on 21 December 1505, the son of the herald of York. He received his early education at St. Paul's School, and he was taught law at Trinity College, Cambridge by Stephen Gardiner. In 1524, he entered the court and came to the attention of Thomas Cromwell, who influenced Cardinal Gardiner decision to make him Clerk of the Signet in 1530. Wriothesley and William Brereton helped to secure an annulment for King Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and he was granted extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Until May 1539, he served as England's ambassador in Brussels in the Habsburg Netherlands, and he led the naval escort for Anne of Cleves when she traveled to England in late 1539. By 1542, due to the fall of the Duke of Norfolk from the King's graces, Wriothesley was in control of almost everything in England. All Protestants were rooted out of the royal household, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer remained in power only because of his good relationship with the King. In 1546, however, the leader of the rival reformist faction, the Earl of Hertford, took power in England, and Wriothesley fell from grace. Wriothesley served as Lord Chancellor until 1547, when he lost that title, as well as his seat on the Privy Council. He was later readmitted to the council, and brought about the fall of his rival, but he had not regained his former position when he died in 1550.